Wayward Experience in Education

I am going to get personal in this post. So be kind in the comments section.

I was raised with a great family. I was the third of five children. While I was growing up I had an older brother I idolized. I wanted to be just like my brother. On the other hand I had an older sister I didn't relate to as a kid because she was a girl and I was a boy what could we possibly have in common. My brother is six years older then me. A good enough distance ahead I was able to watch what he did in school, so when my mother would ask me what I wanted to do I just would look at what my brother was doing and said the same thing. While this helped me from making any real decisions I also had little knowledge of what was out there. 
 

Growing up I was exposed to the very stereotypical career options. I knew I could become a teacher, cop, firefighter, doctor, and etc. I excelled in elementary math and social science always finishing my homework in class. When I got into high school people started to ask what I wanted to do. Well since I had never really thought about it I would just look at what my brother was doing and say business. I had no idea what college I wanted to attend and the thought of what I would major in at college never entered my mind. In fact I didn't even know what a major was. My only goal was to get into college and then do what my brother was doing. I got in a good college and when I was asked by my mother what I wanted to major in I just said business. 
At this point I had never sat down with my parents or teachers or councilors about career options based on my school strengths or interests. I had never really given much thought about what I was going to do for a career. Mostly because I had never been forced to think about it. Only after I got accepted into college did I know there happened to be a business program. Most of my friends in high school just applied to schools because they were close to home very few of us considered the programs the schools offered and if they would get us towards a career we wanted. All we were doing was going to college because it is was expected of us from those around us. Once we got to college we would figure it out. What if I ended up at a college which failed to have a major I was interested in? I can tell you there was no way I was going to change schools and go through all of the hoop jumping required to apply or transfer schools. 
 

Today there seems to be a stigmatism that college is for people to discover themselves and find out who they really are and if they are serious then go to grad school and that is where things get serious. This should not be the case. College is for people to gain an education while specializing in an area they are interested in. 

I spent three years trying to find out what I was interested in. I found out quickly business was not for me. I searched and searched majors to find the one for me. I talked to my mom and dad and siblings. I took major quizzes to find out what I should major in.  The major quiz it would just spit out general majors without enough details for me to know if the major was for me. I finally stumbled into my major because I was getting a minor in the subject and after further research I discovered the many different career opportunities with the major. I then found that my interests with this subject dated back to when I was a child. If my parents had known the different career options based on what I liked to do as a child I could have saved time and money in college and accelerated my education and career.
 

I use myself as an example to see if others out there experienced similar education paths or if not how they were able to avoid the pitfalls I had. Please leave comments sharing your thoughts.

Bridging the Gap Between Foundation of Education and Career Seeking

During elementary school students are taught math and social sciences. While elementary school builds a sound foundation for future education this does not mean teachers and parents cannot begin to seek career options. The subject of math can be dull and many students see absolute no real reason for learning, addition, subtraction, fractions and so forth. Students tend to ask why they need to learn addition and the teacher typically responds because they need it for a job. Then the student begins to think of jobs to avoid math. The blame should not lay on the teacher because it is not the teacher's job to educate each student on every job opportunity. A teacher's job is to provide the educational foundation to build skills in order to get a job. The gap ETC is hoping to overcome is; between what the teacher is teaching and how the skills are transitioned into finding a career.
We understand human beings change from day to day, month to month, and year to year. But ETC wants to create a way for parents and teachers to help students begin to formulate realistic goals on career options. If a parent knows what skills and interested their kid held at ages 9-11 they can help to foster more interests along those lines. So when that child is 16 and is looking for their first job the parent can remind them when they were 9-11, through the ETC program, of the interests they had during early education. The tracking system through ETC would allow parents and children find a job aligned with the interests of the child. That child can then can begin looking for a job within that field and see if they are still interested in that career.
Elementary math is important. But attached to math are careers like engineering. While engineering is a great field there are ways to be a part of the engineering world  and yet avoid the calculus intensive course work in college. ETC wants to help provide students and children viable options for careers.
Some may say that a 9-11 year old doesn't really know what they want to do. While that statement can be true ETC wants to help generate thought towards a career at a younger age. Nine to Eleven years old do have interests and likes and dislikes. An 9 year old can be very vocal on what they like in school and what they like to do. Can that a 9-11 year old be completely different in ten years. YES! they can be but this should not deter parents and teachers exploring career options for their children. Many professionals have switched jobs and careers from their first job out of college. Very few professionals remain in the same field they began their career in.  ETC understands this, but this is not what ETC is aiming for. It is aiming to create a way for students to know what their end goal is for education. Those with an end goal and a sense of purpose tend to do better in school. Those with a career goal in mind tend to enjoy getting an education and learning.

Please feel free to comment and give us your experiences. We do not claim to know all and just want to help in every way we can to improve our educational system.

About Education Towards Careers

Education Towards Careers is focused on developing a database of career options helping councilors in the education system better help guide young students toward a career goal instead of just finishing school. Too often the only goal a student has in mind is to finish high school or to go to college. While finishing school is a commendable goal there is an end to formal education and more often than not it leaves the student lost for what to do next. ETC wants to foster a system where at a young age children are exposed to more career options than just what their parents do and what they see through the media. ETC wants to help create a way for parents and teachers to begin finding out what career options apply to their children and students skill sets.

Education Towards Careers does not profess to have all the answers to solve the many pitfalls of the United States education system. Nor does ETC profess to be all knowledgeable considering education. What ETC wants to do is help to offer a more complete picture of what education is for.

Through this blog ETC will look to gather experiences from people who have gone through the education system and lacked proper guidance on career options.

ETC wishes to find a solution to college graduates moving back in with their parents.

ETC will post blogs on different topics to generate discussion and compile the comments left after each blog. Meanwhile ETC will be forming a database to help formulate a system where educators can present real options to students and parents.